Tableau Dashboard User Guide: Annual Case Filings Dashboard

This dashboard allows users to count case filings by year across the State of Minnesota. The dashboard is interactive and allows users to view different case types, counties, districts, and years. The dashboard defaults to a statewide total of Major Civil case types for the years 2012 through 2016.

District and County Selections

There are two ways to select counties:

The map on the upper left is interactive. Left-click on a given county to see data for just that county. To select multiple counties, hold the Control (ctrl) button and left-click on as many counties as you want to look at.

Select a county from the drop-down list below the map. The list is alphabetically organized. The map changes to show your selection.

To reset county selections, left-click any white space on the map tool. Another way to reset the county selections is to use the drop-down menu and click “All.”
You can also choose districts using a drop-down menu below the map. The map changes to show the counties in your selected district.To reset the district selection, use the drop-down menu and select “All.”

Case Type Selections

You can select case types using the menu below the district and county drop-down lists. The available case types are Major Criminal, Major Civil, Major Juvenile, Major Family, Major Probate, Minor Civil, and Minor Criminal. There are many “subtypes” associated with each case type.

Two bar charts show filings based on your selections.

The chart on the top-right of the dashboard displays filings by case type and year. The chart is a bar chart that only shows filings for the case type you select.

The chart on the bottom-right of the dashboard displays filings by case subtypes. The chart is a bar chart that displays case filings by year and case subtype. You can compare different years by looking at the numbers of filings and the colors of the bars. For example, if 2012 has a higher number of filings than 2013, then the 2012 bar will be darker than the 2013 bar.

Time Selections

You can select a specific timeframe for filings. The timeframe selection tool is below the case type selection box on the bottom-left of the dashboard. With your mouse, drag either or both of the two sliders, located at the starting point and ending point. The tool defaults to a timeframe of 1/1/2012 to 12/31/2016. You can select any timeframe in between those dates. Moving both sliders back to the ends of the tool resets the timeframe to its default position.

Other Selections

Mouse-Over Summary Information
Move your mouse over any colored bar on the right side of the dashboard to get detailed summary information. Move your mouse over the map on the left side of the dashboard to see county names and district numbers.

Selecting Individual Bars
Left-click on any colored bar on the right side of the dashboard to highlight it. Options to “Exclude” or “Keep Only” will display. Use Exclude to remove a bar from the chart, or use Keep Only to exclude all other bars except the one selected. To reset the dashboard to its original settings, reload the page or select “Reset” at the bottom-left of the dashboard. To highlight multiple bars, hold Control and left-click the bars to highlight. To highlight all bars, or to deselect bars, click on any white space in the dashboard, or click on the grey header above the chart with the highlighted bar.

Selecting Years and Case Subtypes
Left-click on "Case Subtypes" in the bottom-right chart, or left-click on years in either chart. Your selections will be highlighted and have the options, “Exclude” and “Keep Only,” which function the same as they do in the above explanation. To reset selections, click on any white space in the dashboard, or click on the grey header above the chart with the highlighted case subtype or year, or click on “Reset” at the bottom-left of the dashboard.

Exporting Data

You can export data from the dashboard in several formats. Each format has its own instructions, laid out below. To start the process, go to the bottom of the dashboard and click on "Download":

Tableau Workbook: Click on “Tableau Workbook” to download a .TWBX (Tableau Workbook) file containing the data and the visualizations. You can only open this file with Tableau Software. Tableau Software has a free version called, "Tableau Public," available on its website.

PDF: Click on “PDF” to download a PDF (portable document format) copy of the entire dashboard. You can open PDF files with Adobe Reader software and some Microsoft software that comes preloaded on many PCs.

Crosstab: Users can download the underlying data that supports the dashboard with either “Crosstab” or “Data.” First, select the data you want to download by clicking on a bar, row, year column, or header. To get all of the data for a part of the dashboard, click on the grey header above it. For example, to download the Crosstab for case subtypes, click on the header titled, “Major Criminal Filings by Subtype and Year.” Second, click on "Download" at the bottom of the dashboard. Third, click on "Crosstab." A .CSV (comma-separated value) file will download. You can open .CSV files in Microsoft Excel, Open Office, Libre Office, Microsoft Access, Notepad, and other software. You can also download individual parts of the dashboard by following the method above and clicking on your specific selection.

Data: Similar to Crosstab above, select the part of the dashboard from which you wish to download data, and then click "Download." Next, click “Data” and a popup will appear. This popup will display the first 20 “rows” of data selected. You can choose to view the summary or the full data by selecting the tab below the URL in the popup. You can choose to download all the data as a .TXT (text) file by clicking the blue text, “Download all rows as a text file.” You can view text files with the same software referenced in the "Crosstab" bullet.

Image: Click on “Image” to download a .PNG (portable network graphics) picture file of the entire dashboard. You can view .PNG files with a variety of software.